English and Scientific names:

Bell’s Vireo

Vireo bellii

Number of individuals: 

1 hatch year, sex unknown

Locality: LOUISIANA: 

Lafayette

Specific Locality:

501 Adrienne St.

Date(s) when observed:

September 5, 2008

September 6, 2008

Time(s) of day when observed:  

ca. 6:30 PM   on  9/5.

7:35 AM   on  9/6.

Reporting observer and address:

Paul Conover

Lafayette, LA

Other observers accompanying reporter who also identified the bird(s):

 

 

Other observers who independently identified the bird(s):

 

Light conditions (position of bird in relation to shade and to direction and amount of light):

Overcast. Good light, colors very vivid on  9/5

 

In-hand on 9/6.

Optical equipment: 

Zeiss 10’s

Distance to bird(s): 

40-50 feet on  9/5, in-hand on 9/6.

Duration of observation:

about 1 minute on  9/5, about 20 minutes on 9/6.

Habitat: 

Urban backyard, dense thicket of bush honeysuckle, giant turk’s cap, and other flowering bushes overgrown with cypress and morning glory vines. Toothache trees rising out of thicket.

Behavior of bird: 

9/5: I saw a suspicious warbler-sized bird fly into the crown of a toothache tree, and went in for my binoculars. When I returned, I saw a bird fluttering in an adjacent toothache tree. It was moving actively, fluttering as it moved, and wing-flicking like a Ruby-crowned Kinglet when perched atop clumps of leaves. I could see it was the color of a vireo and suspected BEVI by its actions. It flew down into the honeysuckle in my trellis, at eye level, and hover gleaned. I could see the facial pattern and the yellowish flanks well, which narrowed it down to WAVI, immature WEVI, or BEVI. When it settled down for a second, I could see the weak eye-ring with weakly dark lores, distinct greater covert wing bar, and weak median covert wingbar, which narrowed it down to BEVI. I picked up my camera and worked my way to where it had been, but it was nowhere to be seen. I tried playing calls, and walking the area for an hour, with no luck.

Description:

9/5: Vireo, greenish overall. Mantle and wings greenish. Obvious whitish wing bar on great coverts, weak bar on median coverts. Head grayish, contrasting with greenish mantle, somewhat as in Orange-crowned Warbler. Diffuse, limited pale area around “large” dark brown eye. Lores dusky. Overall very plain-faced. Vireo bill, color not readily discernible at distance. Pale yellowish/whitish below, with yellowish flanks, the flank color very visible as bird hover-gleaned.

9/6: See photos. Note bluish-gray color of legs, horn-colored bill with pale cutting edge and dusky culmen, also merging of color of spectacle with malar, chin, throat to give “capped” or “helmeted” look.

Banded with USFWS band #2250-47350.

Voice:

 

Similar species:

WEVI. The wingbar pattern and lack of strong contrast between wingbar and covert color differs from WEVI.

 

Photographs or tape recordings obtained?

None. 

Previous experience with this species: 

Many. This is, I believe the 9th one I’ve seen in SW LA. Also many out west.

Identification aids:

none

This description is written from: 

These are my notes. I saw it about an hour ago.

+9/6 photos and in-hand observation. 

Are you positive of your identification? If not, explain: 

 

Yes.

Reporter: 

Paul Conover

Date and time: 

7:30 PM, September 5, 2008.

11:00 AM, September 6, 2008.